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Harris, aged 33, of Hillcrest, Tiverton, admitted affray and battery and was jailed for a total of two years and two months by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him:”You came across a fight involving the 12-year-old and another lad of similar age. Rather than breaking it up, you chose to encourage the boy to continue.

“You shouted ‘kick him, punch his head in, get it’ and the like. The words can be heard on the video clips. Very commendably, a youngster tried to break it up but you grabbed him by the throat and later headbutted him.

“These are serious matters because they involved not only public violence but violence concerning children.”

Samuel Harris, 33

The judge made an official commendation to the 15-year-old and awarded him £100 out of public funds.

The sentence included the partial activation of a suspended sentence from Taunton Crown Court for an incident in which he deliberately rammed another car during a feud between two families in Bridgwater.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said the police were called to the fight in People’s Park at 3.30 pm on March 6 this year.

Mobile phone footage showed two children fighting and Harris shouting support for one of the boys. He had his arms out to keep others away and attacked the 15-year-old when he tried to stop the fight.

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He later told police he was angry because someone had called him a pikey but accepted he behaved unacceptably.

Miss Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said Harris had nothing to do with planning the fight but encouraged it to continue because he believed one of the boys had been subjected to bullying, which the authorities had done nothing to stop.

She said he moved from Bridgwater to Tiverton to escape from a feud between families which led to the previous offence and he was trying to stay out of trouble.

He was also under stress because he feared that a type of cancer, which was treated successfully in 2013, had returned.